Forced creativity

Matt — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 13:41:19 -0400

A few weeks ago, I made public my intent to write here more often. I did it in public for a reason – to shame myself into doing it. I’ve heard and read a fair bit about the importance of creativity in life, and how writing is an excellent conduit for such things. And yet, it’s like pulling teeth to sit myself down and write.

So the question on the table today is, “is forcing creativity useful or simply masochism?”

On the one hand, creating creative habits seems like a good plan. Build a regimen wherein you sit and write once a day, or once a week, or whatever. Make it a regular part of your day, and good things will come of it. You’ll be calmer, more at peace with yourself, blah blah blah. I’ve certainly gone out of my way to make it easy on myself. I carry around a notebook most of the time. I have software so that I don’t need an internet connection to write (I know, they call it a text editor, but ecto is much nicer). I certainly have the time! So why have I posted here twice in 3 weeks???

Conversely, there’s the school of thought that says “if it doesn’t come easily, it wasn’t meant to be.” Which isn’t to say that you should quit something that you’re not instantly good at. However, if you find that you have to drag yourself, kicking and screaming, to the keyboard in order to write, perhaps writing is the wrong answer. Maybe try dance instead. Or knitting. Or glass blowing…

For now, I think I’m going to keep dragging myself. Maybe create a block of time for writing and try to stick with it. I will admit that once I get going, I definitely enjoy it. And no one that knows me would accuse me of having nothing to say! So expect to see more in this space.

No, really.

The Mind of Boz: Forced creativity

Forced creativity